The records of ships used to carry troops to their theaters of operations were destroyed intentionally in 1951. "According to our [U. S. National Archives] records, in 1951 the Department of the Army destroyed all passenger lists, manifests, logs of vessels, and troop movement files of United States Army Transports for World War II." (Sorry, but there was no word on why the records were destroyed.) Thus there is no longer an official record of who sailed on what ship, though there are still valuable sources that can be found. So this web page is an informal collecting ground for information about troop ship crossings.

In doing research for the site I'm working on, history of the 34th Photo Recon Sqdrn, I found your site. It seems the squadron shipped to England aboard Queen Mary. Here's some notes from a memoir by the unit commander.

Under cover of darkness on 21 March 1944 "Shipment 5254-Y" bedecked in full battle dress, detrained once again and marched aboard our "North Atlantic Cruise Ship". And would you believe it! We had drawn the "Pride of the Seas", the Queen Mary. Approximately 350 strong we represented the finishing touch to some 17,000 other warm & crowded bodies already aboard and waiting. We were the last full unit to board. Our enlisted men were immediately escorted directly below to the bowels of the ship, "E Deck"! And as one of the newly appointed "E Deck" commanders I had the honor of joining them.

With "no delay" the "Queen" steamed from her berth out of the narrows of New York harbor during the night hours and was well to sea by the time we saw daylight once again. It was a rough but rapid crossing. With 17,000 plus troops aboard there was little time or room for parading the upper decks. It was a mass of mankind in a relatively confined area. Even the seasick, and there were many, had to elbow their way to the rail--few making it. But I assure you, the "Limey" outfit running this "show" really knew what was going on and what had to be done. It was organized to a "T".

Other than the gales and continuous high seas the only incident occurred on the third night out. Rumor had it that a German "wolfpack" was hard on our tail. At any rate during the night the "Queen" did make a sudden 90 degree turn to the North and drawing full steam must have headed direct for the "Ice Pack" before turning eastward once again. If one dared stick his nose out for a bit of fresh air it was cold, cold, cold. (Incidentally, one of the least publicized but also more reliable post-war secrets attributed that Hitler had posted a $1,000,000 reward for the "U-boat" skipper and crew that nailed the "Queen" on one of her fully-loaded east-bound crossings--Pleasant Dreams.)

No matter how fast or uneventful our crossing was it wasn't fast enough. It was, indeed, a great relief when we heard the rattle of anchor chains running out on the morning of the sixth day in the Firth of Clyde just outside Glasgow, Scotland. The disposition of the 17,000 troops was executed expeditiously. With minimum delay the 34th had said gooby to the "Queen of the Seas" and boarded English Coaches for a final train ride south.

The 34th had sailed from NYC enroute to Chalgrove, England. They were to have sailed as part of a later convoy to the MED. Fortunately they were bumped in schedule, due to accellerated training and the proficiency of the squadron members, and sailed out of NYC. Had they not sailed on QM...they would have died. It seems the squadron that sailed to the MED, in their place, was KIA by a U-Boat attack enroute. All hands on the cargo/troopship perished.

The 30th AAA Group headquarters unit, 11 officers and 54 enlisted men, embarked from New York on 23 July 1944 on "NY 22." I found this code name in re-reading our unit history. I know the vessel was either the Queen Mary or the Queen Elisabeth because there were over 12,000 troops on board, and we made the crossing alone, with no escort.We disembarked at Gaurock, Scotland on 29 July. I was a Captain at the time, serving as Assistant S-2 and Liaison Officer. Our group was responsible for destroying hundreds of V-1 Flying Bombs in actions on the English Channel coast and also in the defense of the port of Antwerp.

This information, specifications and resulting ship histories are gathered and compiled from from various sources that many times conflict. If you find an error or discrepancy, please email me at troopships@pier90.org or
fill out our online crossing submission form.
If you are interested in the histories of merchant ships that served during WWII (as well as during other wars) in any capacity or that were lost due to wartime activities, please watch for our sister site
"Liners and Merchant Ships At War" that is currently under construction.